The Fourth Shepherd Sister
by Maxcs
Summary: Everyone knows of Nancy, Kathleen and of course Amelia but Derek has four sisters. Lauren's arrival at SGH isn't warmly welcomed by her older brother but when she befriends nearly everyone in that hospital, he knows she's meant to stay at least for now
1. Chapter 1

"Good Morning" Meredith sung happily as she skipped up to her husband and kissed him softly. Standing beside him, she looked at the OR board trying to figure out why he was so deep in thought. "Bad day ahead?" she asked warily. Derek always had that sort of look on his face when something was wrong and this morning could be no different. With any luck it was just the emergency craniotomy that got him up at 4am this morning still lingering now that it was almost 7:30am.

"My name is on the board for a surgery that was supposed to start an hour ago" Derek commented bluntly "It's for an intestinal tumour resection on a twelve year old girl" he continued reading the bored as his confusion grew. Meredith too found where he was reading and wondered why his name was beside it. Reading the board again, she saw that the name written was a 'Shepherd, L' not Derek.

"It says Shepherd, L not Shepherd, D"

"Shepherd, L?" he repeated until all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place "Lauren"

"Lauren?"

"The fourth and final Shepherd sister" Derek read where his sister was operating and walked off leaving Meredith standing alone wondering what was going on. Pulling on a mask from the scrub room, Derek marched into his sister's OR and crossed his arms sternly "What the hell are you doing here Lauren?"

"Good to see you too big brother" she laughed softly looking up for only a moment before continuing to operate. Dr Bailey, Karev and Avery looked from Lauren with her British flag scrub cap to Derek and back again warily like they were about to be in the middle of World War Three.

"You didn't know your sister was here?" Dr Bailey asked lightly as she continued to help Lauren operate on this twelve year old girl's tumour.

"I didn't tell him I was the new Paeds Attending either" she chuckled softly

"You're what?" Derek boomed causing a couple of the scrub nurses to jump. "If this is some sort of joke I want nothing of it and if you're here to spy on me for Mom just like Nancy before you then you can report back that all is fine. I don't want to see her or you for that matter"

"Derek shutup" Lauren snapped and quickly took the clamp from the scrub nurse and barked at Avery to retract more before looking up at her brother "For once, this isn't about you so you can either stand there and shutup or get the hell out of my OR. I don't have the patience to argue with you right now" she growled and continued operating.

"How dare..." he began

"Stats are dropping, down to 80%" Bailey piped up quickly as the monitor started to beep

"Derek get the hell out or go tell this kids parents that you've just killed their child" Lauren barked before Derek finally got the point and stormed out of the OR. Digging her hands into the small child's body, Lauren found what the problem was and fixed it before the girl started to crash. She resected the rest of the tumour and any other cancerous cells in the area and assessed her work before starting to close. Stepping back from the table, Lauren let the nurses prep the girl for recovery and stretched out her shoulders. Ripping off her gloves and mask, she followed Bailey, Karev and Avery into the scrub room to wash her hands.

"I think you're my new favourite Attending" Avery laughed as he handed Lauren a bar of soap and the four surgeons started washing their hands. Dr Bailey coughed loudly and started down Avery jokingly "After Dr Bailey of course" he chuckled

"Is it because I just saved that kids life or because I yelled at the famous Derek Shepherd?"

"Yelling at Dr Shepherd" Alex and Jackson chimed in unison with a laugh.

"Well I'd have to say how you managed to get the whole tumour. When we first opened her up I thought we'd have to leave some of it there" Dr Bailey marvelled as she threw a couple of towels at the Residents and ordered them to go check on their patient in recovery

"Good work in there guys, I'll see you up on the Paeds ward for rounds in about half an hour. I have to deal with my brother" she laughed as they left. Picking up a towel for herself and handing one to Bailey, Lauren leant back on the sink trying to think of how to even start talking to Derek. He was in a foul mood which wouldn't help.

"If you don't mind me asking, why didn't you tell Dr Shepherd you were coming?"

"If I'd told him then he would have ordered me back to Connecticut to Mom and our eldest sisters but I haven't been to the east coast in almost five years. I don't think passing over it to get from London to LA really counts" she laughed and pulled off her scrub cap. Playing with it in her hands, she stretched it out to see the many Union Jack images all over it

"I used to have a bright purple scrub cap with stars all over it. I gave it to an eleven year old I treated in London about six months ago because the beanies she was wearing just got too itchy. Her Mom made me a new one so I would always remember London whenever I planned to come home. Lily was one of my success stories; she survived Leukaemia and then a tracheal tumour" Lauren continued before sniffing and wiping a tear from her eye

"I walked into the hospital two weeks ago and Lily was in the ED in respiratory distress. I didn't get all the cancer and a new mass had grown incredibly fast and cut off her breathing. She crashed before I could even get her to the OR, I couldn't revive her. I came to Seattle because my big brother got shot and no-one decided to tell me til six months after it had happened. Lily didn't tell her Mom she was having trouble breathing because she had a dance recital. I could have done something if Lily had just told someone; just like I feel like I could have done something for Derek if someone had just told me what happened. Derek might not want to see me but I'm not going anywhere"

"You should tell him exactly that. All of it even the scrub cap story" Bailey smiled weakly and rested her hand on Lauren's in comfort "I'm sorry about Lily"

"Just some of the pain you have to deal with when you're a surgeon specialising in Paediatric and Neo-Natal Oncology. My little sister Amelia tells me I'm a sucker for a war I'm never gonna win"

"I think you just won that battle though" Bailey chuckled referring to the life they'd just saved "She's probably never going to have to worry about cancer ever again"

"I hope so" Lauren smiled "Thanks again for your help in there. I understand why Arizona offered you the fellowship now. Shame you turned it down" she chuckled and walked toward the door "Wish me luck"

"You don't need it just tell him about Lily"

**Thoughts?**

**Will Derek lighten up to his sister being around?**

**Note: Lauren replaces Stark as the Paeds Attending when Arizona goes to Africa**


	2. Chapter 2

"The new Shepherd is awesome" Alex laughed as he sat down on the gurney between Meredith and Lexie and took a bite of his apple. Avery took the wheelchair opposite and joined in the praises of the new Attending whilst starting his lunch.

"Wait, who is the new Shepherd? Derek's been replaced?" April asked anxiously. She could bear to think Derek had left Seattle Grace not without saying anything. He was her 'mentor' or at least that's what she told everyone.

"No Derek is still here, his sister Lauren is the new Paeds Attending" Meredith corrected and nudged Alex as he stole one of her fries.

"Dr Robbins hasn't even been gone three days, how did she know about the job?" Lexie wondered curiously.

"Apparently she worked with Robbins at Johns Hopkins so Shepherd was the first person she called when the Carter Madison grant came up" Alex answered mid bite. He and Avery had already asked Lauren that question in between patients on rounds that morning.

"How did Robbins not put two and two together when she started working here with Derek?"

"Oh she knew he was her brother, she just didn't make a big deal about knowing one of his sisters" Avery answered this time

"How do you two know all this?"

"We kind of badgered Lauren with a heap of questions because Bailey didn't join us on rounds. We didn't get the chance to ask her in surgery with Bailey there" he laughed

"You guys call her Lauren?"

"Not to her face" Alex laughed and stole another one of Meredith's fries "She wants to meet you though. She keeps calling you the post-it wife"

"Oh great" Meredith sighed lightly. Meredith didn't exactly have the smoothest run with Derek's sister. She thought he was cheating on her when she saw Nancy in the trailer and she gave Amelia the benefit of the doubt when Derek couldn't. There was no avoiding this sister though; Meredith was on Paeds rotation the next day.

"Twenty bucks says she hates Meredith right off the bat" Avery laughed before having to avoid a handful of flying fries being pelted at his head

"You're probably right though" Meredith sighed lightly. Without a doubt she would do something stupid and Lauren would end up hating her. That'd probably be easier for Derek having an Allie rather than an enemy. "I guess I should go find the She-Shepherd and introduce myself"

"The She-Shepherd? Isn't that what we used to call Addison when she first got here?" Alex laughed

"What would you rather we call her then?"

"Well McDreamy is her brother and McSteamy is his best friend so how about..." Lexie thought with a chuckle

"McYummy" Avery piped up with a smirk. Alex quickly agreed much to the arguments of the girls "What? She's kinda hot"

"Think of something else" Meredith sighed as she stood up "before you spread McYummy through the hospital"

"Yeah don't count on it"

XXXXX

"You can't tell me that you're here without Mom even knowing" Derek sighed as he walked with Lauren down the hall of the surgical floor. He couldn't understand why of all places, Lauren had to be in Seattle if their mother didn't know about it.

"I don't even know where she thinks I am. I haven't spoken to her, Nancy or Kathleen in five years" she insisted. Lauren just couldn't get it through to her brother that she had cut their family out just like he did.

"But you've spoken to Amy?"

"I passed through LA on my way here. I saw Addison too, she cut her hair"

"Not the point Lauren" he growled lightly and picked up his patient's chart as they got to the nurses' station. Reading through it, he familiarised himself with the case hoping it would get him away from his sister. "I don't believe that you just cut Mom out and didn't tell her you were in London"

"Well I was in Greece for a few weeks before London but that was strictly holiday and a lot of cocktails on the beach" Lauren laughed but her joke didn't even warrant a smile out of Derek. "I left about a week before you walked away from all your problems in New York. Last week wasn't the first time I'd spoken to Amelia in 5 years Derek" she snapped knowing that hit a heartstring.

"I didn't walk away from my problems. They drove me away from New York"

"That's a load of garbage and you know it. Addie cheated and you ran away"

"Tell me again how we got onto this topic again?" he sighed and crossed his arms

"We got onto this because you're in a constant state of denial. Did you ever think that I came here as a favour to my old friend Arizona, and that you or your obsession with thinking Mom is always checking up on you, were never a factor in my decision?"

"I am not..."

"As much as you don't want me here Derek, I'm not going anywhere" Lauren insisted "I like Seattle, it doesn't rain quite as much as it does in London and I like this hospital. I needed a fresh start and Arizona gave it to me so I'm sorry for invading your precious territory but like it or not I'm staying" she snapped and turned away from her brother only to slam straight into a petite figure. Collecting herself, Lauren watched her brother drift toward the figure and pull her close to his side. "You must be the post-it wife"

"Lauren..." Derek warned

"Meredith Grey. Nice to meet you" Meredith smiled and extended her hand out to Lauren.

"Lauren Shepherd, nice to put a name to the... no I haven't heard a thing about you actually. Derek isn't all that talkative"

"Yeah I know what you mean, I knew you existed but I didn't even know your name"

"That makes me feel all warm and fuzzy Derek, thank you" Lauren chuckled and glared playfully at her brother. He stood back against the nurses' station clearly uncomfortable at the bonding between his wife and sister. "He never has been one to talk about his many annoying sisters"

"I can't relate, I'm an only child" Meredith chuckled looking back at Derek with a 'she seems nice' look on her face.

"Sounds like heaven to me"

"Really Lauren?" Derek sighed softly

"Oh come on. You still wish for four less sisters"

"Or just a brother..."

"Not gonna happen" Lauren laughed "But you might be getting another nephew. Nancy is pregnant again. 22 weeks along I think"

"I thought you said you hadn't spoken to Nancy"

"I haven't, Amelia told me" she chuckled and took the chart from the impatient nurse that had been waiting by her side for the last ten seconds. "It was really nice meeting you Meredith but I have to see this patient. We should catch up for a drink tonight"

"Sounds good" Meredith smiled and ignored Derek squeezing her hand behind her back as they watched Lauren walk toward the elevator. Turning back to Derek, Meredith pulled her hand from his grasp "Ow"

"You're having a drink with my sister?"

"She seems nice and I'm on her service as of tomorrow so I have to like her" she chuckled and leant up kissing him quickly "What harm could one drink do? Embrace that she's here, frown lines aren't handsome on you"

"You're all bright and shiny about my sister... I don't like it"

"Enjoy your sister's presence"

"Yes Confucius" he mocked warranting him a light slap on the arm from his wife "Why do you want me to like having her here?"

"Because she's family. I grew to like Lexie and now you can grow to like Lauren. Deal with the bright and shiny" she smiled and kissed him one last time before skipping off to check up on her post-op patients.

**Thoughts?  
Will Derek embrace and enjoy the presence of his little sister? :P**


	3. Chapter 3

Lauren rushed around the seemingly quiet ER stocking up supplies at every bed and trauma room ready for the incoming trauma that had her scared. Dealing with plenty of trauma before, Lauren had never seen anything quite like that would come through the doors of Seattle Grace in less than fifteen minutes.

"We got paged 911 down to the ER what's going on?" Derek asked as he and Meredith walked toward Lauren. He couldn't help but notice the lack of emergency in that room.

"I will tell you when everyone else decides to answer their pages"

"Lauren..."

"Not now" she snapped and continued to prepare the ER with everything they would need including surgical kits. There were going to be too many people and not enough operating rooms so she would have to make do with what she could.

"Lauren..."

"Derek just wait"

Waiting til as many of the surgical team had arrived in the ER, Lauren started handing out gowns and gloves to the curious Interns, Residents and Attendings. Singling out Mark, Lauren quickly briefed him of the situation because t would have to be them to take point on this trauma.

"We have a mass casualty situation coming in ten minutes. There has been an explosion and fire at a local elementary school" Lauren began yelling to the group gathered. Various people around the group gasped at the thought of the situation involving such young children

"There have been twenty two deaths reported already and more expected. This gas explosion happened in the cafeteria kitchen during lunchtime so we will be getting a lot of staff and children coming through these doors. Seattle Pres is taking as many of the non critical patients as they can handle but any major burn victims, smoke inhalation, blast and crush injuries are coming here so be prepared. These kids are no older than about 12 and no younger than 5 so they will already be scared and frightened. Do not make their fears any worse by treating them like any other adult patient"

"I know you've probably heard this speech from Robbins but you're going to hear it from me too" Lauren continued "This will not be like general surgery on a smaller scale; it is much bigger than that. These kids are without their parents and in a lot of pain so be gentle not just with how you treat them but with how you speak to them. Working with kids is about more than the medicine so please remember back to your psych rotations and think about their mental capacities as children"

A thousand different questions exploded from the group gathered as they asked about other Paeds Attendings, OR priority, burn care and the inexperience many of them had with paediatrics. Looking around the group, Lauren spotted Alex and quickly pulled him out to where she was standing with Mark. Whispering in his ear, she saw his face lose all its colour before he finally nodded in agreement.

"Yes I am the only Paeds Attendings available at the moment with my colleague away on leave and I understand your concern which is why Dr Karev will be my second in charge and fellow Paeds surgeon today. We will both be running back and forth between the OR and here helping out wherever we can. Along with Dr Sloan who will take point on any major burn cases, the three of us will be the ones to go to"

"Ambulances are a minute out Dr Shepherd" an ER nurse yelled out from the door.

"Attendings if there are no cases to your specialty coming through then pick up any patient and treat them. Residents and Interns please take charge and do your best work but if this all gets too much then suck it up or get the hell out of this hospital. This is not a rehearsal people, get into gear" Lauren finished up and raced out to the ambulance bay as the first of many ambulances came in. Along with Dr Hunt, she assessed the patients as they came out of the ambulances and sent them through to the ER.

"How bad is it out there Reggie?" Lauren asked one of the paramedics as he unloaded a six year old girl with burns to a large percentage of her tiny body "Sloan!" she yelled out as Lexie Grey rolled the gurney into the ER and into a trauma room for Mark to treat the girl.

"Pretty bad, the explosion blew out half the building. Search and Rescue have been digging for kids but two out of three they find are already gone" Reggie sighed and packed up the gurney as a nurse returned it "I have to get back out there. Good luck"

"Thanks. Bring us back some miracle kids ok?"

"Got it" he smiled and got back into the truck as they got ready to pick up more patients. Lauren made her way to the next ambulance and assessed the ten year old boy the paramedics were unloading.

"Benjamin James; ten years old, head trauma from being blasted into a wall, pupils are sluggish, little to no sensation in either feet and abdomen is rigid. He crashed on route, BP is still low" the paramedic rhymed off as Lauren took the gurney and started rolling it inside.

"Derek!" she yelled out as she looked around for any extra pairs of hands "Grey clear up an OR and get the portable CT and then get in here, I need an extra set of hands"

Derek rushed to his sister's aid as he assessed the situation and quickly ordered every test he could think of for the boy. They transferred the boy onto their bed and started their full work up.

"Benjamin oh my god!" A woman gasped loudly from the door to the trauma room as she saw the ten year old in a neck brace being fussed over by doctors and nurses.

"Who is this woman? Get her out of here" Derek barked loudly

"I'm Benjamin's teacher. Please save him" she cried loudly "He... He's allergic to peanuts and his blood type is B positive"

"You know your students blood types?"

"His mother is my best friend please you have to save him"

"We'll do the best we can" Lauren assured her as the nurse was finally able to take the woman out and to a waiting room. "He's bleeding internally; we have to get him to an OR Derek"

"We're going to have to work simultaneously; I need to get this haemorrhage under control"

"Grey, call the blood bank and get as much B positive as they'll give you and meet us in the OR" she ordered as they prepared the boy to take him to surgery "If you see Karev, tell him I'll be in the OR and to page me if he has to"

XXXXX

"Dr Shepherd?"

"Yes?" Derek and Lauren answered together as they heard their last name from the door of their OR. Lauren was elbow deep trying to control the perforated bowel while Derek was repairing the brain bleed.

"Dr Lauren Shepherd" Avery clarified "We need you in OR2, we've got a five year old girl with a shard of glass in her abdomen. X-ray shows it penetrating the diaphragm"

"Handle it Avery I can't walk away from this kid now"

"Me?"

"I trust you with this Jackson" Lauren insisted and looked up from her patient "Go back to the OR and open her up, I will be in there as soon as I can. You've got this"

"Ok" he nodded nervously and left the OR. Walking back into OR2, Avery scrubbed in and began the operation. He had to stop and take a deep breath but he still couldn't shake the nerves of his first solo trauma surgery.

"Are you sure Avery can handle that kind of surgery?" Derek asked after the young resident left.

"The kid's gotta learn sometime..."

"On a five year old?" Meredith asked concerned. She was Avery's friend but she knew he couldn't handle something like that, not yet.

"He can handle this just have a little faith" Lauren smiled from under her mask. Avery wasn't the most well liked Resident among the Attendings because he wasn't as good as doctors like Meredith or Alex but without a chance, Avery would never improve.

"Faith?" Derek sighed knowing his sister had never been the religious type.

"Trust me"

Lauren finished the bowel repair and controlled any extra bleeding before handing the surgery off to Meredith to finish. It was a simple repair and close and something an intern could finish but she wasn't about to patronise Derek for that.

"Page me if something goes wrong"

Walking into Avery's OR, she saw he had the surgery under control. Most residents would have opened up the pericardium and taken the shard of glass right out but Avery thought ahead and repaired what he could before it was necessary to remove the foreign object. Lauren stepped in to assist but she let Avery take point.

"Are you alright here?" Lauren asked as she checked her pager and there was a 911 to the ER. She was confident Jackson could finish this but the option of help was always there. Avery assured Lauren he was ok and that he would page her if he needed her.

Lauren got to the ER to see Bailey getting a pulse back into a smoke inhalation patient. All the doctors had been doing such an amazing job for the little notice and experience they had. She was blown away by the calibre of their talent. Getting in and taking another patient to surgery, Lauren never got the chance to go back to check on Meredith or Avery.

"Dr Shepherd?" Alex spoke from the door to the scrub room. He pulled on a mask as Lauren's young patient started to crash.

"Hold that thought for a second Karev I'm just at this kid's aorta" she sighed softly and repaired the tear in the heart. Once she was comfortable with the repair she looked up for a moment "What can I do for you Karev?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Torres took the last surgical patient up to OR3. The burn unit is at capacity but Sloan has the teacher and four kids with major burns under constant watch and everyone else is either being monitored or has been discharged. Seattle Pres sent over a few extra cases but they're under control. It's going to be a long recovery for some of these kids but we have it handled" he smiled glad to finally give such a positive report to Dr Shepherd

"Good work today Karev, your name is already on the list for a Paeds fellowship"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously" she laughed "now are you going to scrub in and help me or just stand there?"

**Thoughts?**

**I thought Lauren needed to take charge. Lauren and Alex make a good team but would they make a good couple? Or Avery? Or Mark?**


	4. Chapter 4

"Joe!" Lauren laughed loudly as she walked into Joe's bar and straight up to the bar. Looking around, she noticed that the bar was full of Seattle Grace doctors and nurses. No doubt they all needed a drink after such a challenging day. "Joe my good man, every Seattle Grace doctor and nurse in the bar right now deserves a drink so consider the next round on me"

The whole bar cheered and raised their glasses as Lauren set down a couple hundred dollars on the bar and pushed it toward Joe. After the amazing work those doctors and nurses did today, they deserved it.

"And what is it I can get you Dr Shepherd? I saw the news and the elementary school disaster. Looks like you could use something strong" Joe chuckled as Lauren sat down between Alex and Jackson.

"Just water for me actually, I have to get back to the hospital soon"

"You're going back? You should go home to bed" Avery laughed and took a sip of his drink.

"I should go home and take a nice long bath but someone has to monitor the thirty eight kids and ten teachers that are still admitted from today. My day is far from over" she chuckled and nodded to Joe as he handed her a glass of water. "I live for major traumas and forty eight hour shifts"

"Are you sure you don't want a drink?"

"Want some company?" Alex asked with a shrug. Going back to the hospital and working with Lauren definitely beat the frat house he called home. The walls were thin and Derek and Meredith were trying for a baby.

"I'll come back too if you'd like some extra help" Avery offered only because Alex did. He would much rather go home and sleep but Lauren was the only Attending that was ready to teach him anything so the more time he spent with her the better. It didn't help that Avery had a bit of a thing for Lauren because of the chance she gave him today.

"No you guys stay, enjoy your night with a cute little nurse or someone" she chuckled and took one last sip of her drink before handing Joe another hundred dollar note "I should get back. Joe, please consider every drink Karev and Avery drink tonight to be on me"

"Will do" he smiled and happily took the money.

Lauren stood up off the bar stool and clasped both Alex and Avery on the shoulders with a smile "You two did well today. You'll both make amazing surgeons"

"Thanks Dr Shepherd"

"When I'm out of those god forsaken navy scrubs I'm just Lauren"

Lauren pulled her coat tight around her body as she walked through the crisp night air to get back to the hospital. She needed the cold to wake her up for a long night ahead of her. A very big cup of coffee might help a little too. Changing back into her scrubs, Lauren rounded on all the elementary school patients ward by ward til she got up to the Paediatric oncology ward. She wasn't about to forget about her usual patients just because of this trauma. Watching her kids from the door, she subconsciously assessed all of their vital signs without having their charts to record any changes. She just wanted to see they were all ok.

"These aren't patients from this morning" Alex chuckled as he stood beside Lauren. He had excused himself from the bar early and made his way back to the hospital. After watching Derek and Meredith leave together, he wasn't all that excited to go home.

"No but they're just as important" she chuckled and looked up at him with a smile "I trusted interns with these guys today"

"And everyone is ok?"

"Looks that way, I shouldn't worry about these kids so much. They're pretty tough"

"You're allowed to worry" he smiled nudging her gently "All you Paeds surgeons ever do is worry about these kids"

"Hey, don't say anything bad about Robbins. I know the girl wears roller skates but that's no reason to be mean" Lauren joked

"You don't wear those sneakers with the skates?"

"No way! They're totally lame. Mine light up" she giggled and stamped her foot lightly to activate the lights on her sneakers. Alex laughed loudly causing Lauren to put her hand over his mouth quickly to shut him up. Seeing a few of her kids stir, she really didn't want them to wake up. Her kids were the hardest to calm down at night especially if their parents had gone home for a rest. Hospital was a scary place for kids even if they were used to spending months at a time in an oncology ward.

"Do you want to be the one to rock them back to sleep?" Lauren laughed as she slowly took her hand away from his mouth "Rule number one especially on this ward, let the kids sleep and you'll have a peaceful night"

"Did Ghandi teach you that one?" Alex laughed softly "Or Yoda?"

"Shutup"

Lauren laughed softly and turned back to look at her patients leaning into Alex gently. She was doing her best to stay standing considering how exhausted she was. Alex rested his hands on her shoulders and massaged them gently. He couldn't imagine how tired she was after the day she had. He had a busy day but that was nothing compared to hers. Groaning softly, Lauren looked up at Alex with a smile as his hands moved to her lower back. Alex leant forward and kissed her neck softly and moved his hands to Lauren's hips gently. Allowing him to keep kissing her neck, Lauren only pulled away when Alex's hands progressed to just under her scrub top. She stepped away and made an effort of pulling her top down.

"I like you and I like the way you were kissing me but your hands stay away from under my clothes for a little while. I've jumped into relationships way too fast before. I've jumped into bed way too fast before"

Alex held his hands up as if he was surrendering "I get that and I respect that" he chuckled and rested his hands back on her hips "I tend to do that too. Screw first, think later"

"Did I mention that I like you?" Lauren smiled and stepped back toward him and kissed him softly

XXXXX

"Why are you sitting alone tonight Jackson?" Lexie asked as she sat down next to Avery and asked Joe for a refill. "Aren't you meant to be celebrating after your amazing surgery?"

"Oh I am celebrating, I just have a lot on my mind" he sighed softly and finished off his drink in one gulp.

"Would that by any chance be Lauren Shepherd?"

"Huh? What? No..."

"Take it from someone who has been with an Attending, be careful"

"Be careful? There's nothing to be careful about" Avery lied. He couldn't stop thinking about his Attending no matter how hard he tried not to. It was against the rules and he would never have a chance with an Attending like Lauren. "It's different when the Attending is a woman"

"How?"

"It just is... I like her but that's as far as it goes"

"Y'know if she likes you too, you should go for it but like I said, be careful"

"And if she doesn't...?"

"Drink some more scotch" Lexie chuckled

**Thoughts?**

**Uh-oh love triangle. **


	5. Chapter 5

"Good Morning" Alex smiled as he handed her a cup of coffee as she walked into the foyer of Seattle Grace. He had been at work for almost an hour already doing pre-rounds making the Attendings day start off a little easier.

"Good Morning. Thanks for the coffee, I'll need it today" she chuckled and took the coffee. It had been almost two weeks since her first kiss with Alex and they had been out on four dates, a lunch date and plenty of coffee exchanges. They had just been talking and enjoying each other's company with little more than a goodnight kiss. Both wanted to take it slow and they were doing their best to honour that.

"Big day?"

"Long day with a lot of surgeries"

"Do you want to cancel our date tonight? Sleep might be more attractive to you than my rugged good looks" he laughed as he walked Lauren up to the Attendings Lounge.

"How about dinner at my place? We'll order in and you can use those magical hands for a massage" she smiled as they got to her destination "Meet me in the lobby at 8?"

"Sounds great"

Lauren stepped forward to kiss Alex on the cheek until Mark and Derek walked out of the Attendings Lounge. Stepping back, she quickly thought of a ploy to distract them both from any ideas they had about Alex and Lauren.

"Thank you very much Dr Karev for the update, please make sure Dr Grey has all the information before she joins me on rounds this morning" Lauren smiled to Alex whose confused expression soon turned to one of anger and obedience. Mark and Derek greeted the pair before going their separate ways to start their own rounds.

"I'll make sure Meredith knows all the information" Alex growled and shook his head

"Alex I'm sorry"

"You're ashamed of us?"

"No of course not, I just haven't told Derek yet"

"And what's stopping you? Are you scared of him?"

"I am not scared of Derek" she snapped "It's just talking about dating with my brother is a touchy subject and we're not on the best of terms right now. I need to make things better with him before I throw this at him too. I know I have no right to ask this of you after you've been so great for the last couple weeks but please can you just give me some time?"

"I'm late for rounds with Altman. I'll see you tonight" Alex sighed and kissed Lauren's forehead softly before walking away.

XXXXX

"Rough morning?" Meredith asked as she watched Lauren downed the last of her coffee and throw the cup in the trash. Handing her the first chart, Meredith walked beside Lauren as they made their way to the first room. Lauren stopped outside her patient's room and took a deep breath before looking up at Meredith.

"Nothing that will affect our workload today. You ready for back to back surgeries?"

"Bring it on" she smiled and opened the door to the patient's room.

XXXXX

Meredith and Lauren were in their fourth surgery of the day and only had one more before their marathon day was over. Both were tired and sore but the adrenalin from four flawless surgeries in one day was carrying them through. The thought that something had to go wrong plagued the back of their minds but neither thought much of it until Lauren's pager went off in the middle of that fourth surgery.

"It's 911 to 1524"

"Dammit that's Lucas Harrison" Lauren sighed and quickly clamped the bleeder before looking up at Meredith "You can finish this"

"Seriously?"

"You residents really need to stop saying that word" Lauren laughed and ripped off her gloves and mask "Try not to have to page me"

"I got this" Meredith smiled as Lauren raced out of the OR and up to the Paeds ward. By the time she got to Lucas a code blue had already been called and nurses were trying to revive the fragile twelve year old. Pushing through, Lauren couldn't believe he had crashed so suddenly.

"What happened?"

"He complained of chest pains and he just crashed. We didn't see this coming" a nurse answered anxiously stepping back from Lauren as if she'd rip her head off.

"Don't die on me now Lucas" she cried as she pumped his chest trying to restart his heart "push another of epi and give me the paddles"

The nurses obeyed orders and Lauren shocked the twelve year old with no luck. Continuing to pump his chest, she ordered another round of epi and shocked him once again and then twice more.

"Dr Shepherd" a nurse called out to get her attention "Dr Shepherd he's been down too long. He's gone"

Lauren stopped compressions and watched the monitor flat line. Checking his carotid pulse and his pupil reaction, Lauren finally looked down at her watch "Time of death 5:42pm"

Pulling off her scrub cap, Lauren walked out of Lucas' room and out to the waiting room. She couldn't even react about the loss herself until she told Lucas' parents that their son was dead. They all knew death was a possibility for Lucas but the liver transplant surgery he was scheduled for that night was meant to give him a bright future. After giving Lucas' parents the bad news, Lauren made her way back up to the Attendings Lounge slamming the door behind her. The nurses and doctors at the nurses' station and around all went silent watching and listening curiously at Dr Shepherd's sudden hospital disruption.

"Dammit" she yelled and threw her scrub cap at her locker. Flipping the coffee table angrily, she collapsed into the couch and burst into tears. Every memory of losing Lily and now Lucas came flooding back to her and she couldn't keep it in any more. No-one was game to go into the Attendings Lounge but no-one could tear themselves away from seeing what Lauren might do.

"Get back to work" Derek sighed as he passed the nurses' station. Bailey, who was working at the computer in the nurses' station, paged him when Lauren first slammed the door. He would be the only one to talk to her. Nodding to Bailey, he waited before everyone got back to work before going into the Attendings Lounge. Derek sat down beside Lauren and simply pulled her into a gentle hug as she continued to cry.

"Ok I'm ok" she sniffed as she sat up half an hour later. There was just nothing left in her to cry anymore. Wiping her eyes, she looked up at Derek apologetically "I'm ok really"

"What happened Lou?" Derek asked using the nickname his sister was known as when she was a kid. Their youngest sister Amelia couldn't get her tongue around the name Lauren at a young age and so Lou just stuck for the whole family.

"I lost my liver transplant kid"

"Is that it? You've never snapped like that over losing a patient before. I know you Lauren..."

"It's losing Lucas and it reminding me of Lily back in London and it's you and it's Alex and it's all just piling up" she sighed and stood up. Pulling her hair out, she leant back and pulled it back up into a bun. She had a habit of fidgeting or playing with her hair when she was nervous or frustrated.

"I get losing those kids and I know I have been a real jerk lately and I'm sorry. I'm not used to having you here" he sighed and pulled her back down onto the couch "Seattle has always been my escape from our family and all the crap back in New York"

"Don't even worry about it"

"No I do have to worry about it and I have to worry about you because my name wasn't the only one on that list of yours. What's going on with Alex?"

"Have dinner with me tomorrow night and we'll talk. I have patients I have to see" she insisted as she stood up and straightened up her scrubs.

"Lauren..."

"Dinner tomorrow night"

"Alright I'll be there"

**Thoughts?**

**I'm still thinking about how Derek will react to Alex and Lauren dating. How would Meredith and the other residents react to them dating?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Two weeks later**

"Good morning handsome" Lauren smiled as she leant against the nurses' station beside Alex. Peering over his shoulder she noticed a stack of Sloan's files in front of him "Ouch you're stuck with Sloan today. Tough break"

Alex just nodded without looking away from the chart he was updating. Looking down at the chart in front of Alex, Lauren read what the patient was having done.

"A hot Attending is standing next to you and you're more focused on a patient's nose job? I could be topless here and you wouldn't know"

"Are you sure you told Derek about us?" he asked bluntly completely ignoring her joke.

"You've waited two weeks to ask me that? Yes I'm sure I told him. As long as he doesn't have to see us making out or anything more, then he's ok" she laughed softly "Why do you ask?"

"Because I was on his service yesterday and it was like I'd never even met you and even Meredith hasn't said anything. She would be the first person to say something"

"I didn't tell Derek not to say anything. I'm surprised he hasn't told her either"

"So you have told him?"

"Yes" she sighed lightly "Relax, it's been a busy couple weeks maybe it slipped his mind"

"This is Derek and Meredith we're talking about. They tell each other everything"

"Relax, Mark can sense tension" Lauren laughed and quickly kissed his cheek "Meet me in the lobby at 8 and we'll do dinner at my place"

"No, we'll do dinner at mine" he insisted before she left. Lauren was taken a little by surprise; Alex had never offered to spend a date at the house he shared with Meredith, Derek, Lexie, Avery and April. "By the fire place"

"Romantic. I'm looking forward to it"

XXXXX

Lexie, April and Jackson walked up the driveway and toward the front door of their house after a long day at work. They had been down in the pit all day suturing because Bailey was on a warpath. It was lucky for any resident to see the inside of a OR that day.

"I am just going to collapse into bed. This day just needs to end" Jackson groaned loudly as he dragged himself up the stairs and past the window that looked into the living room.

"Stop" Lexie gasped before April and Avery made it to the door. Looking into the window, Lexie couldn't let Jackson in particular walk into the house unprepared. April and Avery joined Lexie at the window and stared at Alex and Lauren sitting in front of the fire together. Lexie took Avery's hand gently as they watched the pair laugh and eat Chinese takeout together.

"I need scotch. I need a lot of scotch" he said bluntly and started walking back to the car. Lexie followed him without question but April hesitated confused.

"Why do you need scotch? Did you guys know about them? We have to work tomorrow..." April called out after Lexie and Jackson as she raced back to the car behind them. Getting back to Lexie's car, they all stopped as Derek and Meredith gout out of Derek's car beside them.

"I wouldn't go in there" Jackson sighed and got in the car slamming the door behind him. Lexie shrugged and got in as well waiting for April to join them. He couldn't think about Alex all over the only woman he had really started to care about since he got moved to Seattle Grace. It was just his luck that someone else got in before he did.

"Alex and Lauren are together. I don't understand what's wrong with Lexie and Jackson though" April shrugged and got in the car. Meredith looked to Derek as Lexie pulled out of the driveway then up to the house in shock. She couldn't believe Derek was so calm about this unless he already knew.

"You knew they were sleeping together?"

Walking up to the house, Meredith didn't look through the window before bursting into the house and stopping at the entrance to the living room. She stopped and expected to see them half naked or something to that effect but they were sitting together, fully dressed and sharing the last fortune cookie. Thinking Alex was just sleeping with Lauren for the fun of it, Meredith was ready to rip his head off. Things were just getting better with Derek and Lauren and she wasn't about to let Alex ruin that for them. Derek needed Lauren and if he knew she was sleeping with Alex then he would just push her away.

"Hey Meredith" Lauren smiled when she noticed her sister-in-law standing there watching them.

"As far as I know they're dating like normal people" Derek chuckled as he joined Meredith and greeted his sister with a nod "She jumps to conclusions"

"I don't blame you" Lauren laughed "We ordered extra Chinese for you guys, it's in the kitchen"

Derek nodded and pushed Meredith through to the kitchen so she wouldn't embarrass herself any further. She was known for slightly overreacting but never like that. Holding back his laughter, Derek endured Meredith slapping him to stop laughing at her.

"They're just dating?"

"They're just dating" he chuckled "Lauren's just as bad as Alex when it comes to jumping into bed too quickly. I don't know what it is with my youngest sisters and sex but apparently Lauren wants to change"

"So they haven't..." Meredith asked hoping Derek would know how she wanted to finish that sentence.

"No and I don't want to know if they do. She's my sister"

"How long has this been going on?"

"About a month" Lauren chuckled from the kitchen door holding two empty wine glasses. She needed an excuse to get into the kitchen and a refill was the perfect opportunity. "I thought Derek would have told you about Alex and I"

"I thought Alex would tell Meredith, she is his friend" Derek defended

"And you're my husband. You let me barge into the house and humiliate myself" Meredith sighed lightly and took the glasses from Lauren. Filling them up with wine, she stood by Lauren's side like they were a team against Derek.

"Poor form Derek" Lauren smirked and took the glasses from Meredith with a smile "I guess everyone knows now" she chuckled and headed back to the door.

"Hey Lauren?" Meredith called out

"Yeah?"

"Alex is a good guy"

"I know. Why do you think we're taking it so slow?"

**Thoughts?**

**Avery isn't happy... Poor guy**


	7. Chapter 7

"Lauren Elizabeth Shepherd" Derek boomed from the gallery of Lauren's OR. Jumping slightly, she looked up to the gallery ready to rip off her mask and her brother's head. Things had been so good between them since she first got here until now.

"Do you want me to kill this kid Derek? I could have nicked his bowel. I've already kicked Avery off my service today I don't need your drama too" she growled. Lauren didn't have the capacity to listen to Derek right then. Avery turned up to work on her service late and drunk for the second time and there was no way Lauren was going to put up with that. He was tweaking her last nerve.

"We need to talk"

"Unless one of my patients is dying I will deal with your problems later. I don't even care if you're dying right now, get out of my gallery"

"I will be outside when you're finished"

"Oh goody, I can't wait" she sighed sarcastically and resumed her surgery. Finishing up the surgery, she made a special effort to close up delicately just to make Derek wait that little bit longer. Lauren let the nurses take her patient up to recovery as she walked out of the OR to see Derek waiting "What do you think you were trying to achieve in there? I thought Do No Harm meant you couldn't kill any of my patients no matter how stupid they were for swallowing three matchbox cars" she snapped and slapped his arm "You're really not that dumb are you?"

"Are you done?"

"I'm far from done thankyou Derek"

"Just put your issues aside for a moment" he sighed and handed Lauren a memo Derek had received earlier that day.

"What is this?" Lauren asked as she unfolded the piece of paper and read the memo. Her heart sank as she read the paper. "You've got to be kidding me"

XXXXX

"I didn't call her" Lauren insisted as she collapsed onto the Attending's Lounge couch beside her brother.

"You had to have called her, how else would she know that we're both here?" Derek sighed and glared across at his younger sister. "Why did you call her? You're not that serious about Alex that you want him to meet Mom? I thought you liked him"

"I do like him which is why I didn't call Mom" she snapped "I bet it was Addison. She knew I was coming to Seattle and she probably wants to get rid of Amelia who has settled for the first time in her life"

"Amy actually settled in LA? LA?"

"I'm surprised that you're not shocked that Amelia just managed to stay in one place for this long"

"Oh no don't get me wrong, I'm amazed Amy isn't bored yet, but why LA of all places?"

"Addison's there which brings us back to the snitch that called Mom" Lauren sighed "I never liked Addison"

"You loved Addison" Derek laughed and nudged her gently "You liked her more than you liked Nancy and Kathleen"

"Only because I did my Neo-Natal fellowship with Addison. I wasn't about to throw away surgery to go into Gynaecology or Psychiatry. How can those two survive in such boring careers?"

"Not everyone likes to cut quite as much as you, Amy and I" he chuckled until it was like a light had gone off in his mind "You and I cut for a living and there's always plenty of patients to keep us busy when she gets here on Wednesday" he smirked and looked over at Lauren "We could just organise back to back surgeries all day to keep us busy. Mom can't argue with dying patients"

"Derek Christopher Shepherd you are evil...I like it" Lauren smiled. His idea was perfect and flawless. Mom knew what their jobs entailed and she couldn't pull them from patients that needed surgery. Even if they were just assisting on a procedure, every patient was their priority.

XXXXX

"Where are all my surgeries?" Lauren growled as she read the OR board and saw only one of her scheduled surgeries actually on the board. The eight others she organised to get out of dealing with her mother had all been cancelled.

"I had three craniotomies booked in a row, where did they go?" Derek sighed as he joined his sister by the OR board and saw his surgeries had all been cancelled as well. Someone had tampered with their schedules and erased their whole perfected mapped out day.

"Oh you two didn't think I'd let you be in surgery all day? Not with your mother here" Dr Webber chuckled as he joined the Shepherd siblings and saw their disgust and confusion "Carolyn is such a lovely woman; I met her only an hour ago. She said you two were booked solid all day. I couldn't let you both pass up on an opportunity to see her so I shuffled a few things around. All your elective surgeries got pushed to tomorrow and your Residents can handle the rest" he smirked

"I am not letting Alex Karev and April Kepner anywhere near my kids without me there. They're on my service and they do not touch a scalpel without me saying so. Not today" Lauren burst and ignored the Chief's expression of shock from her outburst. "They are good Residents, Karev is probably the best I've seen but the surgeries I planned for today are difficult and are not chances for them to go solo. Some of these surgeries need to be done today"

"Sorry Chief I'm with Lauren on this. Meredith can have one of my craniotomies but the rest will not be touched by anyone but me" Derek shrugged "I have surgeries that need to be done today too"

"Then they will be scheduled but every moment that you are not in surgery today, you will spend with your family who have come so far to see you both. No arguments" Richard ordered angrily before storming off toward his own surgery. Derek and Lauren looked at each other silently trying to figure out how to get their day back without having to see their mother and sisters.

"I have Karev and Kepner on my service today and you have both Meredith and Lexie Grey" Lauren began with a smile "I'm sure between the four of them they could keep us busy leaving maybe ten minutes every two hours free to see Mom, Nancy, Kathleen and Amelia" she smirked "I know they're more than capable to handle our patients but Mom doesn't know that. We could have four of the dumbest Residents known to medicine just for one day"

"Lauren Elizabeth Shepherd you are evil... I have taught you well" Derek chuckled and patted her on the back "Mom is down in the foyer, you go see her while I organise our Residents?"

"No way. This was my idea, you go see her and I'll organise the Residents"

"I really hate you sometimes Lauren"

"I love you too Derek"

XXXXX

"Karev, Kepner, Meredith and Little Grey I need to see you" Lauren chuckled as she poked her head into the Resident's locker room. Waiting for them by the nurses' station, Lauren piled up the charts for the day for both her and Derek. Handing them to the respective residents when they joined her at the nurses' station, Lauren stuffed her hands into her lab coat pockets anxiously. Neither Derek nor Lauren knew if this plan was actually going to work but anything beat spending the entire day with their family.

"Today is D-Day and this day won't run chaotically without your help" she smiled "Your job today is to keep Derek and I as busy as possible"

"On what normal day are you not busy?" Lexie chuckled softly from behind her stack of charts.

"True but The Chief is doing everything he can to make sure Derek and I actually have some free time today. We don't want that"

"Ah why don't you want free time? Why don't you want to spend time with your family? I'd love to spend the day with my Mom" April asked curiously. The four interns only knew that Derek and Lauren wanted to spend as little time with their family. Even Meredith and Alex didn't really know why.

"Derek and I have an interesting relationship with our family. The less we see of them the more peaceful it is and that's all you four are going to know for now. Please just stick to the plan" Lauren chuckled. Not that it was much of their business; Lauren was only going to tell them so much. Each member of the Shepherd family had their own feature that annoyed both Lauren and Derek beyond belief. Nancy and Kathleen needed to know everything about their relationships, Derek had his own personal pain with Amelia and both Lauren and Derek loved their mother but she was just as nosey as her daughters. "Derek should be up for his craniotomy while I go make my presence known before coming back for rounds. You guys can start on pre-rounds and pre-op tests" she smiled and checked her pager quickly before walking the opposite direction down the hall toward the elevator.

"Lauren wait up" Alex called out as he handed April his charts and ran after Lauren "So your Mom is in town"

"My Mom is in town" she chuckled

"Are we at that stage where you want me meeting your Mom?" he asked anxiously. Alex would go and meet Lauren's Mom if she wanted to but if he didn't have to then he would definitely be more comfortable.

"Do you want to meet her? You do realise by meeting my Mom you meet my sisters too. If you thought Derek was bad, they're worse"

"Oh... uhm..."

"You can stay up here where it's safe" Lauren laughed and pulled him close kissing him quickly "Just wish me luck"

"Good luck"


	8. Chapter 8

Lauren twisted her hair around her fingers as she walked down to the hospital foyer to where her family were sitting. Fixing her hair when she was nervous, Lauren smoothed it down before making her way to the group of seats.

"Lauren!" Carolyn smiled and quickly embraced her daughter. Hugging her Mom, Lauren smiled over her shoulder at her sisters. Taking a deep breath, she prepared for the onslaught of questions and queries. "You grew your hair"

"That's all you notice?" Amelia laughed as Lauren collapsed into the chair next to her little sister. Lauren and Amelia got along better than any of the Shepherd siblings because of how close they were in age. "Forget her pierced ears, her black and bruised fingernail and the new scrub cap in her pocket. What happened to the purple one?"

"You noticed all that?"

"You guys didn't?"

"Amelia" Lauren chuckled. As much as Amelia was annoying, Lauren still loved her strange little quirks especially when she tried to put off the inevitable that was Nancy and Kathleen.

"I would have noticed the makeup..." Nancy began until she was interrupted by Lauren's pager. Just on time, Lauren looked down and saw Alex's page "Emergency Lauren?"

"Yeah 911, sorry Mom" she sighed softly and hugged Amelia quickly before walking away. Passing Mark in the hall as she made her way up to the Paeds ward, Lauren thought of the perfect idea.

"Mark! You should go down to the foyer and see my Mom. Nancy, Kathleen and Amelia are there too. Go entertain them with your Mark Sloan charm"

"You want me to go down there? Why aren't you down there?" he chuckled

"They like you better. My sisters have to like you, they all slept with you. A fact that my mother will never know if you go down there right now"

"Are you blackmailing me?"

"Is it working?" Lauren smirked knowing Mark would do anything to keep Carolyn from knowing he had slept with 3 of her 4 daughters. To her, Mark was a good man and Lauren wasn't going to ruin that.

"You owe me Lauren Shepherd"

"I'm still not going to sleep with you Mark"

"Seriously?"

"What is it with everyone in this hospital and that word?" she sighed shaking her head and walking away. At least Mark was going to give both her and Derek some extra time.

XXXXX

"Derek!" Kathleen smiled as Derek took his turn with the family. Hugging her gently, he went around the group and embraced Nancy, Amelia and his Mom as well. He had to start them off happy before he hit them with reality.

"What are you all doing here? I know neither Lauren nor I called you..."

"Is it a crime to want to see all of my children together in one place even if it is a hospital?" Carolyn sighed as Derek sat down next to her "It's not all that often that you five will actually willingly spend time together like Christmas or Birthdays. It's not all that often that you're in the same country. Lauren spent the last 5 years in London?"

"And a few weeks in Greece" he answered absent mindedly before thinking back to the question his Mom had asked first "Because we have jobs. Lauren and I can't just leave"

"Amelia is a surgeon too and she managed to find time to come to Seattle" Nancy piped up shooting Derek a 'so there' kind of a look. Clearly Mark's visit hadn't brightened her mood.

"Amy doesn't work in a hospital anymore. None of you actually work in a hospital. You don't know how crazy our days can get" Derek shot back quickly "Lauren and I are Heads of our Departments"

"Both of you?" Carolyn gasped "That's great. I'm so proud of you both"

"Then as Heads of your Departments, you should both be able to delegate your workload to your staff so you can have one day off to see your family" Kathleen sighed trying to the guilt trip option. It worked on Derek as a kid so hopefully it would still work now "Your residents can't be that bad that you need to do everything"

"Kathleen this is a teaching hospital and they do not learn without a teacher"

"Isn't part of learning that they do procedures on their own?"

"Not when they can't handle said procedures"

"Will you two stop?" Carolyn sighed "And where is Lauren? Derek, I thought you'd both at least plan ten minutes with us together"

"Mom..."

"I'll go find her" Amelia smiled. Zoning out while Derek and Kathleen bickered, she looked around the hospital foyer and noticed a familiar figure up on the catwalk. Amelia was also relieved to get some time away from her family as well. She was blackmailed into this trip by the one and only Addison Montgomery formerly Shepherd. Making her way up to the catwalk, Amelia noticed her sister cuddled up to a hot, young, pale blue dressed Resident.

"Who is Dr Handsome?" Amelia chuckled as she leant on the railing beside her sister nudging her gently. Lauren turned to Amelia with a light sigh.

"Amelia this is Alex, Alex this is my little sister Amelia. I promise she's the only other Shepherd you have to meet today" she laughed as Alex shook Amelia's hand politely

"Yeah only if eagle eye Nancy doesn't see us up here" Amelia laughed "She caught you in that car after prom with Jimmy Carson from her second floor room and she caught me countless times buying my choice pills. She's good"

"Choice pills?" Alex wondered out loud

"I'm a recovering narcotics addict"

"Seriously?" he chuckled. Lauren looked back at him almost saying 'seriously' with her expression. She hated how everyone used that word and Alex had been so good "Sorry"

"Addie said you've been going to meetings..." Lauren commented trying to bring the conversation back "What were Nancy and Kathleen's take on that?" she chuckled

"I don't get how those two can tell Mom and each other everything about their lives but I'd rather keep some things to myself. I don't think I can handle their opinions on my NA meetings"

"At least Derek and I know you're related to us. What brought Mom and the evil non-surgical sisters here anyway?"

"Non-surgical sisters?" Alex laughed

"Nancy is a gynaecologist and Kathleen is a psychiatrist. Of the five of us, they decided not to do their surgical residencies" Amelia chuckled "Five doctors and those two are too lazy to spend the extra few years in a hospital"

"Five doctors in one family, that's pretty incredible in itself"

"Maybe you should meet my Mom, she'd love you" Lauren laughed to Alex.

"You do realise that if I don't come back with you soon that she'll come looking for us and he will have to meet her in a bad mood" Amelia informed her little sister before noticing Derek racing down the catwalk toward them "Where's the fire Derek?"

"More like a minivan crash ten minutes out. Three kids, two adults and multiple head, neck and chest wounds. We're going to need all hands on deck" he told them without really stopping.

"Mom is going to kill you both..."

"Mom is going to kill all three of us" Lauren chuckled before turning to Alex "Can you go find the Chief and get him to give Amelia surgical privileges then can you go down to the foyer and tell my Mom of the situation. If you don't tell her you're my boyfriend then she won't keep you there with questions and you can scrub in with me"

"Got it" he nodded and walked swiftly along the catwalk toward the Chief's office.

"Obedient" Amelia joked as she walked with Lauren and Derek down to the ER "Maybe that's because you're his boss?"

"Shutup, I like him"

"So how is he...? Y'know... in bed?"

"Oh God" Derek sighed and pushed the button for the elevator

"I wouldn't know" Lauren chuckled. Amelia slapped her older sister's arm lightly as they got into the elevator "Ow. What the hell was that for?"

"You're turning into Nancy and Kathleen"

"Take that back!"

"Open your knees"

"Will you two shutup!" Derek sighed leaning against the back of the elevator "This is why I like having a city all to myself. I got enough of you girls bickering growing up"

"Don't worry big brother we'll be out of your perfectly styled hair soon enough but for now you can just put up with us for this trauma" Amelia chuckled and stepped out of the elevator once it reached the ground floor. The three siblings raced for the ER as the ambulances reached the hospital earlier than expected.

**Thoughts?**

**I thought Lauren and Amelia should get along. It's like Derek is stuck between the good pair of sisters and the annoying pair. **


	9. Chapter 9

"I hate Paediatric trauma" Lauren sighed and stretched her shoulders as she walked out of the OR with Amelia and Derek. The three Shepherd siblings had to work together on one of the children injured in the horrific car accident but no matter how hard they worked they couldn't save the nine year old little girl. Her head and chest injuries were just too severe and her little heart couldn't take the stress.

"I think you're in the wrong specialty if you hate Paeds trauma" Amelia laughed nudging her sister gently. Just as exhausted, Amelia managed to save the father of the car crash family before helping her sister with the child.

"Every specialty has trauma so changing isn't the answer" Derek chuckled and pushed the door open to get to the waiting room. The three Shepherds had to give the waiting grandparents the bad news on their granddaughter as well as the good news on the rest of the family. That was always the worst part of being a doctor. Their next duty was facing their own mother and her wrath.

"Derek!" Mark called out and caught up with the Shepherds as they headed back up to the Attendings Lounge "What's this about a dinner party at your place tonight?"

"Dinner Party?"

"You don't know anything about it? I just got told to be there at 7 for dinner"

"Hey are we invited?" Amelia laughed "Because this has Mom..."

"No this has Kathleen written all over it" Lauren finished for her sister. There was no doubt that this was the work of their eldest sister. Lauren and Amelia were going to enjoy just watching their brother squirm.

"You two will keep quiet" Derek warned before spotting Meredith by the nurses' station "Meredith, are you organising a dinner party tonight?"

"You haven't spoken to your Mom?" she asked anxiously "She found me, asked if we had enough room for ten or so guests and asked to borrow my keys. I just had to invite your family, my family, Mark and any significant others which constituted as Alex. Those were her words"

"Oh this is going to be fun" Lauren laughed and was quickly glared at by her brother who looked like he was ready to scream.

"She's your mother too Lauren..."

"Yes but I don't get quite as embarrassed by Mom as you" she smirked and took a chart from the station and checked on her patients latest scans and notes. "I have to check on this kid, I'll see you all tonight at the dinner party. I'll bring some wine"

"We'll need it to watch Mom and Derek go at it" Amelia chuckled

"I really hate you two, y'know that right?"

"Uh-huh" Lauren shrugged with a laugh as she went to check up on her patient.

XXXXX

"Knock, knock" Lauren smiled as she leant on the door frame of Alex's bedroom. She hadn't been inside that small room very much since dating Alex. Their time was usually spent out, in the living room or her apartment "I like that shirt on you"

"It looks better on the floor" he smirked as he turned to her until he realised how dirty that sentence sounded "Sorry I start talking dirty when I'm tired"

"I'm sure it would look better on the floor, you have great abs" she chuckled "You did amazing work today; I'm not surprised you're tired"

"Thanks... for both comments"

"Are you ready for dinner? I know I said you wouldn't have to meet my family but I'd love to introduce them to the man that makes me so happy. Nancy asked me if I was taking a page out of Amelia's book and using drugs because my attitude has changed"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously" Lauren laughed and sat down next to Alex on his bed "You've been so amazing over this past month. I think I've made you wait long enough"

"Now?" he asked curiously with a little bit of hope

"Oh no I meant tonight, after dinner" she chuckled

"Lauren! Lauren you're missing all the action!" Amelia called out as she raced up the stairs looking for her sister. Running past Alex's room, she doubled back and leant on the door frame like Lauren had done so earlier "Derek and Nancy are about to go at it. You're missing all the good stuff"

"You're like a little kid at Christmas" Alex laughed

"This is so much better than Christmas. It's Shepherd family smack down. Keep up Dr Handsome"

"Ignore her" Lauren sighed and stood up taking Alex's hand "Come on Dr Handsome"

"Tell me again why we don't go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas more often?" Amelia laughed as Lauren and Alex followed her downstairs to the dining room. The room looked incredible even with Derek and Nancy scowling at each other in the corner. Kathleen did know how to put on a good party. Mark and Lexie were in an opposite corner having a heated conversation of a different matter but everyone had heard that one a million times.

"I'm surprised you're not in the kitchen with Kathleen" Lauren chuckled to her Mom who was already sitting at the head of the table. Kissing her Mom on the cheek quickly, Lauren sat down beside her as Amelia sat across from her sister.

"Can I get you ladies anything to drink?" Alex asked. Each of the three Shepherd's asked for their respective drinks as Alex disappeared to the kitchen. Anything to postpone meeting the family. Alex wasn't exactly the man women took home to meet their families but he really liked Lauren which just made him nervous.

"I have never seen Derek so on edge before" Meredith sighed softly as she joined Alex in the kitchen getting drinks. She couldn't stand how worked up Derek's family made him.

"At least you've met his family. I just feel like the outsider. I'm trying to avoid meeting Lauren's Mom"

"Derek and Lauren's Mom is great. She's nothing like my Mom, she bakes and she sews and she has photos of her five kids in her wallet. She's the typical Mom"  
"I think that's what scares me" he sighed softly "I want to make a good impression"

"Just be the guy Lauren likes so much" Meredith smiled and handed him Carolyn's water, Lauren's wine and the two beers for him and Amelia. "The sooner you get in there, the sooner it's over"

Alex smiled weakly and walked back into the living room. Derek and Nancy were still in a private yet heated discussion in the corner as Alex set the drinks down on the table and gave them to their respective Shepherd women.

"You're that lovely young doctor from this afternoon, telling me my children had to go save some lives yes?" Carolyn chuckled as Alex sat down beside Lauren.

"Yes that would be me. I'm Alex Karev; it's nice to meet you"

"You must be the boy behind my Lauren's smile. She hasn't smiled like that since..."

"Mom please" Lauren sighed wishing her mother wouldn't start naming any ex-boyfriends.

"Let's just say it's been a while" Carolyn smiled "You're a surgeon too? What's your specialty?"

"I'm a Resident at the moment so I don't really have one just yet but I seem to have a talent for Paediatrics or so I'm told"

"Arizona has had his name down for the Paediatrics fellowship since before I even got to Seattle" Lauren smiled. She hadn't told Alex that which caused the 'she did?' look on his face. Resting her hand on his knee, she assured him that he had that fellowship for when his residency was over.

"How is Arizona? Amelia says she's in the Congo or something? What took her there?" Carolyn asked remembering the bubbly blonde girl from Lauren's med-school days. Someone like Arizona Robbins was hard to forget.

"It's Malawi and she got the Carter Madison Grant. She's saving the world one African child at a time"

"Ok who's hungry?" Kathleen called out as she walked into the dining room with a large roast turkey.

"Wow Kathleen this looks amazing" Lauren smiled as she stood up and helped Meredith who had started bringing out more food.

"Well if you came home for Christmas or Thanksgiving more often, you wouldn't be so surprised" she shot back quickly at her little sister. Amelia laughed loudly even though she'd missed a fair share of holidays over the past few years. "I thought I would cook all the Shepherd classics now considering you three probably won't come home or the holidays this year"

"Don't speak so soon big sister, maybe we might" Lauren smirked even though she probably wouldn't get back to New York for the holidays. Kids still got sick through that season like any other time of the year.

"Yeah, no we won't be there" Amelia laughed and helped with the last of the food before sitting down.

"I'd like you all to be together for the holidays this year" Carolyn commented softly

"Us Mom, you'll be the main attraction" Lauren chuckled as everyone took their seats around the table.

"No, no I won't" she sighed softly and took Lauren and Amelia's hands gently. Everyone looked to her with confused expressions on their face. "It's great to see all of my children, including you Mark and your loved ones all together like this. Family is really what's important in life"

"Mom, what do you mean by what you said? Why wouldn't you be around for the holidays?" Nancy asked ignoring her mother's comment about family "What's going on?"

"I was hoping to get through dinner before I had to tell you all this but I know how impatient all my children are in particular"

"Mom..."

"The reason I came to Seattle and dragged Nancy, Kathleen and Amelia along with me, is because I wanted my family together because I haven't been given enough time to make it to the holidays. I have Stage 3 Stomach Cancer"

**Thoughts?**

**I bet you didn't think that was why the Shepherds came to town. How will everyone react? How will Lauren react? She is an oncologist**


	10. Chapter 10

"Stage three? Who is your oncologist back in New York? Give me his number and I'll take a look at the scans" Lauren insisted once the shock started to wear off. She turned straight into doctor mode as the oncologist that she was.

"What would you know about stomach cancer?" Nancy snapped quickly. She got really snippy when she was put in a mood like that. None of them could really wrap their heads around the bombshell Carolyn just dropped on them.

"I know plenty. I am an oncologist as well as a surgeon thank you Nancy"

"You're a Paediatric and Neo-Natal Oncologist. You deal with leukaemia in ten year olds not stomach cancer in a woman over sixty"

"Stop it both of you" Carolyn sighed and rested her head in her hands. She didn't want her kids to turn into doctors about this but they couldn't really help it. "I'm trying to tell you why we're here and all you can do is argue about who knows more about some silly disease"

"Mom I can help you" Lauren insisted

"No baby girl you can't. There's nothing that can be done"

"I'll be the judge of that"

"What did the doctors say Mom?" Derek asked from the other side of the table. Both Amelia and Kathleen seemed to still be in shock because neither had moved "Did the doctors actually say there couldn't be anything done?"

"Yes Derek that is what the doctors said. Now this beautiful turkey is getting cold. Would you please do the honours and start serving it up?" Carolyn sighed softly as Derek obeyed orders and started serving the turkey.

Everyone stayed pretty quiet the entire way through dinner no matter how many times Carolyn tried to ask her children questions to start up a conversation. The five Shepherd siblings in particular would politely answer their mother's questions in as little words as they managed to say. None of them were in much of a mood to talk. Lauren couldn't help but notice Amelia's fidgeting and her playing with her food weakly.

"Hey Amy, why don't you help me get some more drinks?" she asked as she stood up, pulling her little sister into the kitchen with her. Amelia absent mindedly started fixing more drinks before Lauren stopped her. Taking her little sister's hands, Lauren just wanted Amelia to stop scratching at her nails like she used to when she really wanted a hit. "You're ok. Amelia look at me. You're ok, you don't need a hit"

"Mom has stomach cancer. You know that most people don't discover that they have stomach cancer til it's too late?" Amelia stated like she had read it from a textbook "She's not going to be around for Thanksgiving and Christmas. She's really sick Lauren"

"I know Mimi, I know" Lauren sighed softly and pulled her sister into a gentle hug "But I'm going to do something. I'm going to take a look at the scans and see for myself. There has to be something I can do"

"Nancy doesn't think you can"

"Nancy doesn't know me anymore. I know this disease better than any of us, I can help"

"Lauren?" Amelia sniffed as she pulled out of the hug with her sister "Mom is gonna die"

Lauren leant in and kissed her little sister's forehead softly lingering for a second before stepping back "Mom is going to die but if I have anything to say about it, it won't be for a while. Now let's get back in there, we don't want to miss Kathleen's famous cherry pie"

Dessert was just as quiet as dinner even though the shock had started to wear off. Not even Kathleen's cherry pie could brighten anyone's moods. Alex, Lexie and Meredith all volunteered to clean up as Carolyn asked her children and Mark to join her in the living room. She wanted them all to understand the situation and her decision on her treatment.

Alex knocked on the door frame a little while later holding a pager in his opposite hand. "I don't mean to interrupt" he spoke softly "Lauren it's a 911 page. It's Arabella Cox"

"I thought I asked you all to take one night off, just one" Carolyn sighed slightly annoyed. She wanted her kids together for just one night "Can't you handle it Alex?"

"Mom I'm sorry. I told the hospital not to page me unless it was this little girl. She's one of my cancer patients so no Alex cannot handle it" Lauren snapped softly and stood up. This kid was in trouble and Lauren was the only one that could help her. Walking to the door, she took her pager from Alex and her coat which he had also picked up. Alex walked her to the door leaving the tension of the living room behind them "Keep an eye on Amelia. I don't want to leave her with Nancy and Kathleen tonight" she pleaded as she put on her coat "If I'm not back, please take her to my place and I'll be there as soon as I can. She's getting stronger but I still worry she'll fall back into her old habits. Nancy, Derek and Kathleen don't understand her like I do. She's my little sister Alex"

"She's in good hands" he assured her, kissing her softly "But will you be ok driving back to the hospital by yourself? At least let someone go with you"

"I'll be fine just look after Amy"

Lauren kissed Alex one last time before walking out the door. Looking back with a weak smile, she was more worried about her little sister than herself. Lauren knew she could at least try to do something to help her Mom whether she wanted the help or not. Getting back to the hospital as soon as she could, Lauren raced up to the Paediatric Oncology Ward and took Arabella straight into surgery.

Arabella had a benign diaphragmatic tumour pressing on her lungs that was scheduled for removal early the next morning but the fourteen year olds breathing became shallow and uneven. Asking a nurse to get a message to Alex about the surgery, she had to make sure Amelia was taken care of as well as this little girl. Right now they were just as fragile as each other.

It was nearly 2am by the time Lauren had finished surgery. Taking Arabella up to recovery herself, she sat with the young girl til she woke up from the anaesthesia. Giving both her and her incredibly anxious parents the good news, Lauren retreated to the quiet nurses' station whilst keeping an eye on Arabella. The first few hours after surgery were crucial especially after such a delicate surgery like hers.

XXXXX

"She's over there" A nurse told Derek when he asked about the whereabouts of his sister. She didn't come back to the house or even to her own apartment that night and he was worried.

"And you didn't think to wake her?"

"She's been up all night watching out for her surgery patient as well as being on and off the phone with some oncologist in New York"

"She didn't..." he sighed softly and thanked the nurse for her help before making his way over to his sister. Noticing the paper work around her and the scans up on the screen, he knew Lauren had done everything she could to find out about her Mom's condition. "Lauren, come on wake up" he called softly as he shook her shoulder gently "Wake up sunshine"

"Go away" she growled softly and tried to swat him away. Pushing her a little harder, Derek sat on the nurses' station waiting for his sister to come back to reality. "What?"

"Long night?"

"Wait, what time is it?"

"7am. Apparently you conked out about an hour ago"

"I have a surgery at 8" she sighed and tried to stand up but Derek pushed her back into her seat. She was in no state to operate "Derek!"

"I will talk to the Chief and get him to push your surgeries back a few hours so you can get some sleep. The nurses told me everything about your night. I bet New York was happy to hear from you" Derek chuckled "Am I going to have to talk to some people to stop them from suing you for interruption of sleep?"

"The doctor was on call so I only interrupted his attempt to sleep in an on call room. I got Mom's entire file plus her scans. Derek I can help her"

"Lauren..." he sighed "Mom doesn't want surgery. She doesn't want treatment"

"Because she didn't think there was any treatment. I can get in there and get around that tumour. I can use the microsurgery I use on my kids to get around the difficult vessels"

"It's too risky; Mom may not wake up from the anaesthesia"

"How can we not take that risk if it's going to save her life Derek?" Lauren snapped and pointed at the scans "I can give Mom years"

"And if something goes wrong then she won't even get a day to say goodbye" Derek tried to reason with her but it wasn't working. Shaking her head, Lauren stood up and collected all the paperwork and files around her computer.

"Maybe some of us aren't ready to say goodbye"

**Thoughts?**

**Looks like Lauren isn't going to stop til she can help her Mom**


	11. Chapter 11

"They've been in there arguing for an hour" Amelia chuckled as Meredith came up to the nurses' station and handed a chart to the nurse behind the desk. Amelia was sitting on the nurses' station watching her family yell at each other in the conference room through the windows. It was Lauren against her Mom and everyone else in between.

"Why aren't you in there voicing your opinion?" Meredith asked as she turned and watched the argument through the window. It seemed that the only two people determined on their views were Lauren and Carolyn. Derek, Nancy and Kathleen were still undecided.

"My opinion doesn't really matter in there. Nancy and Kathleen still see me as the drug addict who crashed Derek's car while I was high. I did a lot of stupid things while I was high and Derek is just starting to warm up to me"

"What about Lauren and your Mom?"

"I get my Mom's view on not wanting treatment, I hate it but I get it and I understand Lauren's surgery options. I think it's genius that she can use her Paeds surgery techniques on Mom. She's turning into Derek with her crazy experimental surgeries. She's been in Seattle too long"

"Why don't you go in there and tell them that" Meredith sighed and picked up another chart

"Three out of five people in there won't listen to me so there's not much point" Amelia shrugged. She wanted to contribute but when Nancy, Kathleen and Derek couldn't see past her drug addiction to even listen to her.

"You'd be surprised" Meredith shrugged and began to walk away until Dr Webber came along in the opposite direction and stopped her.

"Both of you get in here" he ordered as he pointed to Amelia and waited for them to walk into the conference room before he did. Meredith and Amelia took a seat at the conference table as Richard by passed Lauren and Derek to stand by Carolyn. "Now I understand all your views in this situation but Carolyn came to me this morning asking for my opinion"

"Mom come on" Lauren sighed and sat down next to Amelia knowing her surgery option was not going to happen now. There was no point when her Mom went to Dr Webber to mediate.

"Lauren, I understand you want to try and fight this" Carolyn started softly "But I just can't. I have no fight in me"

"Because you haven't even tried fighting" Amelia sighed softly

"Amelia..."

"You're Carolyn Shepherd. You've been fighting for the five of us our whole lives and now you're telling us you've got nothing left for yourself? That's a load of garbage and everyone in this room knows that" Lauren growled and stood up angrily "You've given up and I refuse to stand around and watch you decide to die. I can help you beat this cancer but just forget I even mentioned it. Clearly you don't even care" she sighed and packed up her files before leaving the conference room. Shell shocked by her outburst, no-one went after Lauren as she stormed out.

"Y'know Lauren's got a point" Derek shrugged. The looks Nancy and Kathleen quickly gave him were like they were shooting daggers from their eyes "I get that you don't want treatment but you're not even considering the options she's giving you"

"But no-one has done a surgery like this before" Kathleen commented very 'matter of fact'.

"I know it's risky but everything has a risk does it not?"

"What about family not operating on family. I thought that rule still held strong in this hospital Derek" Dr Webber added sternly.

"When Lauren is the only and the best surgical oncologist in the state then family has to operate on family" Amelia snapped before cowering back into her seat.

"Paediatric oncologist" Nancy piped up unable to get past the difference in Lauren's specialty and her mother's condition.

"I thought we got past that half an hour ago" Derek sighed shooting the dagger expression back at Nancy "At least consider the options Lauren has to offer. She's a pretty incredible surgeon if you just gave her a chance" he shrugged and walked out of the conference room. Never thinking he would actually side with Lauren on this, Derek was surprised at his own outburst. He needed to get back to work and let his Mom decide this for herself. It was all he could do to stop him from watching his Mom decide to die.

XXXXX

"Knock, knock. Alex told me you'd be up here" Carolyn whispered softly as she knocked on the door of the patient's room quietly. Lauren was sitting in the opposite corner's rocking chair holding a fragile little three year old girl rocking her back and forth. Looking up, Lauren didn't really want to talk to her Mom but Carolyn came in anyway and sat down on the bed "You seem to be very good with her"

"Ashley's Mom works three jobs just to be able to pay for her daughter's chemotherapy. She only gets to the hospital a few hours a week so when Ashley is restless or misses her Mom I'm there for her. A few of the kids on my oncology ward are in similar situations so I spend a lot of my spare time up here"

"How does Alex feel about that?"

"Why are you up here Mom?"

"I wanted to talk to you" Carolyn sighed softly "I considered your surgery options. Dr Webber said it's quite a detailed and thoroughly mapped out procedure you've put forward. He said that it was a rather inspired proposal but I can't ask you to operate"

"You can't _ask _me to operate?" Lauren asked confused. No-one was asking her to do anything; she wanted to save her mother's life.

"I know it was part of your proposal but Derek and Nancy really explained the risks to the surgery"

"Of course they did"

"I don't doubt your talent as a surgeon, I know that you're already an incredible young woman but if I didn't come out of the anaesthesia I would have no time with you, your brother and your sisters. I want my last couple of months to be spent with my family not my last few hours spent hooked up to a machine. I don't want you kids to have to turn off my life support"

"Call me an optimist but I've seen your file and I know you'd be strong enough to pull through the surgery" Lauren shrugged and started to rub Ashley's back as she wriggled gently in her arms.

"You were always an optimist. I think that's why you're so good with all these kids. Even when these kids are so sick you still believe they can pull through and a lot of the time they do" Carolyn smiled remembering stories Lauren had told her of her residency as well as Derek and Amelia's stories from more recent cases.

"I always thought I got my optimism from you..."

"No, no you got that from your father. I was just an optimist by proxy" Carolyn chuckled softly "Lauren I would love to be around for when you and Amy get married, for when you girls and even Derek have kids but I won't be and it hurts thinking about that. With or without the surgery this cancer is still going to kill me before I see all those things happen. Please let me spend my last few months surrounded by you kids"

"I respect that Mom but I just wish you wanted to fight this. I just wish you'd let me help"

"You can help by being there for me like you're here for these kids. I just need you to be there" Lauren stood up shaking her head. Setting Ashley back down in her bed, she covered the three year old up with her blanket and left the room. Carolyn followed her daughter out silently, waiting for her response.

"I can't wait and watch you die Mom. I can't stand there and hold Amy as she watches you slowly slip away from us. She can't handle that, she'll just fall back into her old drug habits" she sighed and leant against the edge of the nurses' station facing her mother.

"Amelia will not go back to doing drugs. She's been doing so well"

"That's what she's been telling you but I've spoken to Addie. Amy is my little sister and I know her better than anyone. I know that when you told us you were sick, all she could think about was getting high to push through this" Lauren snapped softly "I have had Alex and now Derek and Meredith on constant 'Amy Watch' just so she won't do anything stupid. I haven't even had time to cry about the fact that my Mom is going to die because I've been too worried about Amelia"  
"Oh Lauren..." Carolyn sighed softly and pulled Lauren into a gentle hug. Resting her head on her Mom's shoulder, Lauren burst into tears crying for the first time since Carolyn broke the news. Lauren pulled away a few minutes later and wiped her eyes

"I respect your decision not to go ahead with treatment and I won't push the surgery on you anymore it's just going to take some time for me to wrap my head around all this. I just worry about Amy is all"

"You and Amelia are strong, as long as you have each other you will both be fine"

**Thoughts?**

**Can anyone really come to terms with death? I think this may be one of the last chapters of this story. It's been fun but all good things must come to an end**


	12. Chapter 12

"I want a closed gallery. I can't have my brother or my sisters sitting up there watching my every move" Lauren insisted as hit the elevator button and waited with Alex. They were on their way up to the OR to operate on Carolyn's stomach cancer.

"Lauren this is a revolutionary surgery. Your gallery will be standing room only"

"Then video tape it or keep my family including Mark out of my gallery. I'm nervous enough about this surgery as it is" she sighed and stepped into the elevator with Alex. Taking her shoulders gently, Alex reassured her that everything would be fine. "You're gonna have to keep telling me that"

"Come here" he chuckled and pulled her into a gentle hug "And I will be there the whole time. I know it's not much consolation I'm just a resident"

"Just a resident?" she laughed and looked up at him "Haven't the last two months proved that you're more than just a resident to me?"

"Y'know this is the point where Amelia would tell us to get a room" Alex smiled and kissed her forehead before stepping away

"You're as bad as her. Jokes and sarcasm are just your defence mechanisms"

"Defence mechanism?"

"My sister is a shrink. She's been analysing Amelia and I since we were teenagers. We've heard every excuse in the book" she laughed as the doors of the elevator opened and Amelia was standing there in front of them "Speak of the sarcastic psychopath"

"I will slap you for that later" Amelia laughed "I came looking for you"

"What's wrong?" Lauren asked anxiously as Alex and Amelia walked towards Carolyn's room with her. The list of possible problems ran through her head with 'backing out of the surgery' number one.

"Every Shepherd, Montgomery and Forbes-Montgomery that has ever anything to do with Mom is in her room right now"

"Nancy and Kathleen's kids?"

"All of them"

"Bizzy and the Captain?"

"Uh-huh. Half of the Oceanside Wellness Group is here too"

"I cannot handle this today" Lauren sighed and ran her hands through her hair "I cannot see them before this surgery. I can't have little Connor and Emily's big puppy dog eyes haunting me through their Grammy's surgery"

"You've already done your pre-op exam so I'll go get your Mom" Alex insisted and stopped outside the scrub room "I will have your family kept out of the gallery even Derek"

"Does that include me?" Amelia asked with a dramatic pout. Her sister couldn't keep her out of this surgery. She had to watch her Mom fight.

"Yes especially you. Your big sad eyes are worse than Connor and Emily's put together"

"I hate you"

"I don't care" Lauren laughed and hugged Amelia quickly "Go keep your nieces and nephews company while I try to save their Grandmother's life"

"Hey Lauren?" Amelia asked softly "Don't think about who it is on that table today. Just think about how awesome you'll look on the cover of all those medical journals when you pull this off"

Lauren laughed softly as Amelia skipped off down the hall. She loved how her little sister could always brighten her mood no matter what the situation. Taking a deep breath, she kissed Alex one last time before walking into the scrub room and starting to prepare for the surgery.

Surgery was the one thing that could centre Lauren and calm her right down. It was the one thing in her life she knew she could control. Maintaining this thought of Zen, Lauren cleared her mind and focused on what she had to do. The patient wasn't her Mom and a room full of people weren't waiting to find out if she'd screwed up or not. As long as that sentence was, it was Lauren's mantra.

XXXXX

"She's still alive, you got all the cancer you could find and she's stable. You did it" Alex smiled as he and Lauren started scrubbing out.

"No I didn't do anything until she pulls out of the anaesthesia" Lauren snapped quickly before stopping, taking a breath and looking over at Alex "Sorry. I'm just so scared I took months away from my Mom by doing this surgery"

"Have a little faith. Isn't that what you say about your kids?"

"You're starting to scare me. You know me too well"

"That's what two months without sex does to you" he chuckled and handed Lauren a towel as he picked one up for himself.

"I'm sorry" she sighed softly and dried her hands "I'm really sorry"

"No it's ok. I love you so I'll wait"

"You love me?"

"Yes I love you" he smiled throwing his towel in the bin like a basketball three pointer and made his way to the door "I'm gonna go check on your Mom in recovery"

"I love you too by the way"

"I know that. You better go tell your family the good news about your Mom"

Lauren lingered in the scrub room for a minute before throwing her towel away and pulling off her scrub cap. Making her way up to the waiting room, she was engulfed by her immediate and extended family about Carolyn's condition. The doctors in the room were happy to hear she pulled through but were still concerned about Carolyn waking up from the anaesthesia, everyone else was just happy she was alive. After answering a million and one questions, Lauren finally managed to get away to check on some of her other patients. She continued to check on her Mom but left the room before anyone had the chance to ask much more than 'how is she doing?'

Sitting down in the rocking chair in her oncology ward, Lauren rocked back and forth as she watched some of her kids play together. They were a great group of kids so it was relaxing to just watch them play like they weren't even sick. Never did Lauren think that children with cancer would distract her from her Mom's cancer surgery.

"Your niece Jenny just asked Alex if he was her new uncle" Derek chuckled as he walked toward Lauren and sat down in the couch by her rocking chair. The Paeds oncology ward got all the comfy seats compared to the hard ones of the surgical floor.

"So now she's my niece huh?" she laughed

"She is because you should have seen the look on Alex's face"

"I feel so bad. When Mom and our sisters got here I promised he would only have to meet Amelia but now he's met everyone and their niece. Poor guy"

"He'll survive" Derek chuckled "If he can withstand the entire Shepherd family then he's a keeper"

"How is Meredith holding up? She actually is a post-it aunt now" Lauren laughed and put her feet up on her brother's lap. Usually he would push her light up sneaker right off but he was too relaxed in the comfy couch chair to care. He didn't really want to go down and be around all his family.

"She's been in surgery with Altman all day so she hasn't had the pleasure"

"Lucky girl..."

"So how often do you just sit up here?" Derek asked quickly changing the subject. He didn't want to think about letting Meredith loose among the Shepherd family. She was fragile and they could do some serious mental damage.

"Hold that..." Lauren mumbled as her pager went off. Checking it quickly, she froze as she read the message.

"What is it...? Lauren?"

"It's 911 for Mom" she gasped and quickly stood up racing out of the oncology ward and straight for the stairs. Derek was hot on her heels as they bounded down the stairs to the ICU. Both of them couldn't help but think of every bad possibility behind that page. Racing past confused nurses and hospital staff they got to their Mom's room only to see no code blue, no distress just calm. "What is going on? I got paged 911"

**Thoughts? What's happening? Stay tuned **


	13. Chapter 13

"I wanted you to be the first one here when I woke up" Carolyn smiled still a little groggy. The anxious young nurse standing by Carolyn's bed shook nervously fearing Derek and Lauren would fire her "I insisted this helpful young nurse make it a 911. I'm sorry if I scared you"

"You scared the crap out of me Mom" Lauren sighed and took the chart from the nurse who quickly ran from the room. Checking all of her Mom's vital signs, she started doing a post-op exam.

"Will you stop poking and prodding Mom for two seconds so you can rejoice in the fact that she is awake and you just pulled off a ground-breaking surgery?" Derek insisted and pulled Lauren's stethoscope from her hands "You did it Lauren"

"If you'll let me do my post-op exam then I'll be happy. Let me be a doctor for fifteen minutes then I'll be fine I promise"

"Fifteen minutes then its bright and shiny little sister"

"Bright and shiny?"

"Clocks ticking..." he chuckled handing the stethoscope back to his sister. Lauren quickly did her post-op exam checking absolutely everything she could possibly think of. It was too soon to do any scans so she could leave that for an hour or two til everyone had come and seen Carolyn. Writing her notes in her Mom's chart, she made sure she had checked everything twice before standing back with her hands up like she was surrendering.

"Ok I'm done. Bright and shiny little sister is here" she laughed and wrapped her arm around Derek's waist as Derek's arm rested around her shoulders. "I knew you could pull through this Mom"

"Then why have you been so on edge until now?" Carolyn chuckled. She loved to see Derek and Lauren together as close as they were when they were kids.

"Because my Mom who suddenly changed her mind about surgery was under my knife. Anyone operating on their own parent would have been freaking out. What did make you change your mind Mom?"

"Your brother"

Lauren looked up at Derek with a confused expression "I guess I just pleaded your case a little more. Mom deserved a chance to fight and you were giving that to her. We just needed to have a little faith" he smiled and hugged her gently

"That's the second time someone has said that to me today" she laughed thinking about Alex

"Maybe you should start listening"

"Maybe I should go find Amy, Nancy and Kathleen. I'm sure they're just itching to see you awake"

"Maybe Derek could go get them" Carolyn insisted wanting to have some alone time with Lauren. Derek took the hint and left the room as Lauren sat down on her Mom's bed. She couldn't help but keep an eye on her Mom's vital signs as she sat down. Just a spike in her fever could be a sign of something bad so Lauren was going to keep a close eye for the next few hours.

"Is it just Derek that made you change your mind? You were pretty set on not having this surgery"

"Seeing you with that little girl on the oncology ward made me really start to think. I don't want to miss you marrying that gorgeous Alex boy..."

"Mom..." Lauren laughed a little embarrassed.

"Whether you marry him or not, I couldn't miss seeing you holding your own little girl like you were with Ashley. Not to mention Amelia if she ever finds someone to settle down with. I've gotten to see all that with Nancy and Kathleen but I have three more beautiful children" Carolyn smiled and took her daughter's hand gently "I forgot for a moment what I would truly be missing if I didn't do something about this cancer"

"We would be missing sharing it all with you Mom" Lauren smiled and leant down kissing her cheek softly "You might be waiting a while for Amelia and I to settle" she joked as Derek appeared with their sisters at the door.

"Apparently you're only allowed two visitors at a time but we couldn't pick" Amelia laughed as she took up Lauren's now vacant spot on the edge of Carolyn's bed. Looking through her mother's chart once more, she updated her vital sign notes.

"I'm Mom's doctor so we've only got one extra. I think I can overlook the extra just this once" Lauren chuckled and closed her Mom's chart "I should go anyway. I have a few kids I need to check on"

"Don't work too hard"

"When does she ever?" Derek chuckled jokingly. Lauren nudged him dramatically on her way out of her Mom's room. Looking back once she was at the nurses' station, she smiled at the sight of her Mom awake and talking. It was only just hitting her that she'd pulled off a never before done surgery. Taking it in, she made sure the nurses kept a close eye on her Mom before she left to check on her other patients.

**Thoughts? I bet you didn't think Carolyn would be ok. One more chapter to go of this story and I promise a happy ending with a little surprise**


	14. Chapter 14

**Six Months Later: Christmas Day**

"Connor! Give your sister her doll back!" Kathleen yelled as her youngest two children disappeared up the stairs of Carolyn's New York home. Sighing loudly, she walked through the living room only to dodge her older children playing with their cousins. She walked into the kitchen and collapsed onto a stool snatching the glass of wine from Lauren's hand finishing off what was left in the glass.

"Ah Christmas in the Shepherd house" Lauren laughed and snatched her now empty glass back "And you say Amelia's the one who has the problem"

"No I swear we say that about Nancy" Amelia laughed nudging Lauren playfully. The five Shepherd girls including Meredith were doing their best to help their Mom cook Christmas dinner but sometimes they were just getting in the way. Derek, Alex, Mark, Nancy's husband Eric and Kathleen's husband Michael were smart and steered clear of the kitchen til it was time for dinner. They thought they'd be good and shovel the snow from the driveway and path as an extra little Christmas gift for Carolyn.

"Says the ex-drug addict neurosurgeon" Nancy snapped bitterly. She was never in a good mood at Christmas especially when she'd had a glass of wine or two.

"Says the woman who puts her hands in other women where no hands should go" Amelia shot back "Unless..."

"Amy please don't finish that sentence. For all our sakes" Lauren sighed with a laugh

"Agreed"

"Everything is almost ready so why don't you girls go round up all the kids and send Alex in here. I want to talk to him for a second" Carolyn insisted almost physically pushing the five girls out of the kitchen. Amelia quickly grabbed the bottle of wine on her way and followed her sisters out into the living room.

"You're in trouble..." Amelia sung as Lauren pulled on her coat and gloves. Glaring at her little sister, she silently told her to keep quiet.

"Uh Alex?" Lauren chuckled as she pulled her coat tight around her body and stood at the top of the porch stairs. Resting his shovel against her car, he walked up to where Lauren stood and rubbed her arms to keep her warm. "My Mom wants to see you. I think she knows"

"She doesn't know because you took the ring off before we walked in the house this morning. You didn't want to lose it while you cooked" he smirked paying her out for her lame excuse she came up with that morning. It's not that she was ashamed; she just didn't know how to tell her family that she was engaged. This Christmas was to celebrate their Mom beating cancer not anything else.

"She must know because she wants to talk to you in the kitchen alone"

"Will you please calm down?"

"Stay away from the stove"

"Relax. She likes me remember?" he chuckled and kissed her quickly before going inside. Staying outside, Lauren sat down on the top step almost fearing what her Mom was saying to Alex.

Mark noticed Lauren sitting there and joined her laying his shovel against the banister "Are you ok? Shouldn't you be inside? Staying warm while we suffer out here?" he chuckled

"I'm ok" she smiled weakly and pulled off her gloves. Reaching to behind her neck, she unclasped her necklace and set it down in her lap. Pulling off her engagement ring, she slipped it onto her finger before putting her necklace back on "I'm getting married by the way"

"You're getting married? Lauren that's great. Congratulations"

"Thanks. Sorry you lost your shot with me. I guess you'll just have to settle with four out of six Shepherd women if you count Addison when she was married to Derek"

"Um ouch" Mark laughed and pushed Lauren gently "I will just be forever pining over you and Meredith. The two that got away..."

"Oh I think you'll survive" she chuckled

"Are you happy Lauren? Y'know with Alex?"

"Yeah I am and you will be too one day. Just try and stick to one woman though. More just gets a little messy" Lauren laughed and kissed Mark on the cheek before standing up "You're gonna be a great husband and a great dad too"

"Yeah right..."

"Just have a little faith Mark"

"Faith huh?"

"Trust me"

**Thoughts?**

**The End!**

**What did you guys think of the story? I loved writing it and reading all your amazing reviews. I'd love to write another story but am so stumped for ideas. If you want a sequel definitely let me know what you'd like in it. You guys were great readers and reviewers. Thankyou all**

**xx**

**Maxcs**


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